Fisherman's Road

I'll be filling in for Bill Rowe as host of VOCM's afternoon radio call-in show, Backtalk , for the month of July, followed by a week standing in for Randy Simms as host of Open Line . Each day I'll post the show's monologue, which I prepare in advance. ••• Good afternoon Newfoundland and Labrador and all the ships at sea. Big day tomorrow here in Newfoundland and Labrador — big, big day. No, I’m not talking about Memorial Day — not just yet. No, not Canada Day either — I’ll get there in a moment, too. On July 1 in Newfoundland and Labrador the minimum wage will rise by 50 cents to $10 an hour, which, according to Statistics Canada, is on par with some of the highest minimum wages in the country. As of the tomorrow the only province with a higher minimum wage will be Ontario, with a minimum wage of $10.25 an hour. British Columbia will have the lowest minimum wage at $8 an hour — $2 bucks behind us. In fact, there’s a story published in today’s Vancou...

For the next 5 weeks I'll be filling in for Bill Rowe as host of VOCM's afternoon radio call-in show — Backtalk , followed by a week standing in for Randy Simms as host of Open Line . Each day I'll post the show's monologue, which I prepare in advance. ••• Good afternoon Newfoundland and Labrador and all the ships at sea. Thursday is a national holiday, in case you didn’t know it — Canada Day. The country’s 143 birthday, although Newfoundland and Labrador has only been around for 61 years. We’re a lot younger and better lookin’, wouldn’t you say? Definitely way cooler. Look no further than Republic of Doyle . The Globe and Mail carries an interesting feature today. The paper selected 13 songs, one from each of the 10 provinces and three territories. A sort of cross-country Canada Day play list. First things first, The Globe got the name of our province wrong — it’s Newfoundland and Labrador. You’d think our national paper would know that. Anyway...